As Americans Get Fatter, So do Crash Dummies

To help make cars and driving safer for larger Americans, manufacturers are now making obese-sized crash test dummies.

“We’re still testing with a dummy that was created in the ’80s that weighs 170 pounds. It’s not representative of the population, and obviously it’s a much different load on the system,” Humanetics CEO Chris O’Connor told USA Today.

“Obese people are 78% more likely to die in a crash,” O’Connor told CNN. “The reason is the way we get fat. We get fat in our middle range. And we get out of position in a typical seat.”

Similar numbers have from the University at Buffalo and Erie County Medical Center, which reported four years ago that moderately obese drivers have a 21% increased risk of death and morbidly obese drivers face a 56% increased risk.

Humanetics has a prototype dummy that weighs in at more than 270 pounds and has a body mass index of 35.

They also are more technology sophisticated than earlier models of dummies, capable of providing researchers with 130 channels of information, according to O’Connor.